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Maybe It seems very trifling for someone else. But this is something making me puzzled.

  1. He may seek some seasonal help.
  2. He may be seeking some seasonal help.

What are the differences between the meaning of these sentences? I know both sentences are grammatically perfect and similar in meaning.In the second sentence, seeking is used as an participle adjective to qualify subject but does it change the meaning of second sentence?

Kazi Abdul Mohite
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    This is an ELL question. He may seek [ a general idea about what he might do]; He may be seeking [he could be doing this right now]. That is the difference. – Lambie Mar 06 '17 at 16:16
  • @Lambie thanks. What if I said "Maybe He is seeking help" instead of "He may be seeking"? would it convey the same meaning? – Kazi Abdul Mohite Mar 06 '17 at 16:58
  • @Kazi Adbul Mohite [Don't people ever think of using one part of their name??] /Maybe, he is seeking help/He is, maybe, seeking help/He is seeking help, maybe= *There is a chance he is seeking help*. Versus /He may be seeking help/ as opposed to /He may be doing something else/, /He may be off fishing/, /He may be avoiding you/=It could be that x. – Lambie Mar 06 '17 at 20:50
  • @Lambie - If the javascript (I assume it is javascript) doesn't suggest the full handle for you to accept by hitting the Tab key, that probably means the participant will automatically be notified, even without the ping. This is such a case. – aparente001 Mar 07 '17 at 06:05

1 Answers1

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"In the second sentence, seeking is used as an participle adjective to qualify subject" -- this is not correct. What we see here is the "present continuous."

Sentence #1 means he might hire some people or he might not. Or (but this is rather unusual) it could mean that he is permitted (by whom we don't know) to hire some people. This version might refer to the present or the future. In this version, one gets the impression he hasn't decided yet whether he wants to hire some people or not.

Sentence #2 refers to the current situation, which we don't know for certain what it is. As an example, the context could be that you haven't been in touch with each other for some time, so you're not sure whether he's looking for anyone or not; but it's certainly worth a try. "Maybe he is seeking help" matches up well with #2.

aparente001
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